Roethlisberger is on the
verge of joining an elite group of quarterbacks who are three-time Super Bowl
winners; Rodgers has yet to play in one.
Roethlisberger has a troubled
past; Rodgers had a tough act to follow.
The two met the masses at
Super Bowl media day on Tuesday for what turned out to be a study in contrasts.
Roethlisberger, who has led
the Pittsburgh Steelers to their third Super Bowl in six years, deflected talk
about his four-game suspension to begin this season for violating the league’s
personal conduct policy.
Instead, he used a smile and
what sounded like a well-rehearsed reply when pressed about the punishment,
stressing his desire to be a model citizen.
“I want to be the guy people
look up to,” he said, smiling through a beard he said will be gone by Monday,
win or lose. “I want to be that kind of husband, father and grandfather some
day if I am lucky enough.”
Rodgers, who is leading the
Packers to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1998, didn’t have anything
more difficult to address than replacing Brett Favre in 2008.
“I just wanted to be honest
through the entire time,” he said of the will Favre-won’t Favre return saga
that was settled when the Packers dealt their longtime QB to the Jets. “It was
a difficult situation. It was tough to stand up every day in front of media not
knowing what questions were coming at me and how the fans were going to react
that day in practice. But the whole time the organization stood by me and they
told the truth, and I told the truth, and we moved on together.”
Speaking of moving, no one
was getting anywhere fast Tuesday morning after a snow and ice storm — weather
suited for Pittsburgh and Green Bay — crippled the Dallas area.
And no one bothered turning
up the heat inside cavernous Cowboys Stadium, site of Sunday’s title game. The
chill left many players shivering. Even Roethlisberger, who handled questions
better than he did the cold, asked for someone to crank up the burners — to no
avail.
“You’ve got to fight through
a lot of difficult things in life, and this is no different,” he said,
referring to the penalty he received from Commissioner Roger Goodell after
accusations of sexual assault were made by a 20-year-old college student in
March. The quarterback was never prosecuted over what was the second such set
of allegations against him. “You’ve got to keep plugging along.”
He took about a dozen
questions on the subject, and pretty much stayed with the same answer:
“That’s a reflective
question. This is not the time for reflection.”
Rodgers, on the other hand,
had no problem looking back. The six-year pro compared his sitting for three
years behind Favre to what Steve Young experienced in San Francisco behind Joe
Montana.
“I reached out to Steve when
I became a starter, among some other guys, too,” Rodgers said, noting that he
has not spoken with Favre about being a Super Bowl QB. “I wanted to talk to a
lot of guys who’d been there and had success in the NFL. Steve obviously had a
very similar (situation), being a guy who followed a legend. He’s been great.
Steve has been a great guy to lean on and he’s made time for me and is somebody
who I really appreciate.”
Brady wins top offensive
player award
Tom Brady tore up the NFL
with his precision passing and dynamic guidance of the New England Patriots’
offense to run away with The Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year
award for the second time in four seasons.
The record-setting quarterback,
who had a string of 355 passes without being intercepted, received 21 votes
from a US panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league. He easily
beat Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick , who got 11 votes.
“To me it comes down to the
mental toughness and determination of the players and coaches,” Brady said.
Brady threw for 36 touchdowns
while being picked off just four times. When he won the award in 2007, Brady
set an NFL mark with 50 touchdowns passes as New England went undefeated in the
regular season.
Oddly, the Patriots did not
win the championship in either of those seasons, but have won it three other
times.
Brady doesn’t sense much
difference in the guy who took New England to a 16-0 mark back then and a
league-best 14-2 this season.
“I feel our team really grew
together over the course of the season. It was a privilege to be a part of this
team,” he said. “My only disappointment is that we couldn’t take advantage of
our opportunity in the playoffs, but hopefully we learn from that and use it as
motivation toward accomplishing our goals for next season.”
